Insurers Subpoenaed

NOTES

October 11, 1999

The state Department of Insurance subpoenaed 40 insurance companies that haven't complied with a Florida law requiring them to turn over records on Holocaust survivors.

The Holocaust Victims Insurance Act, which took effect July 1, 1998, gave Florida insurers 90 days to disclose all dealings they may have had with international companies that issued life and property insurance policies to European Jews between 1920 and 1945.

The law was written to help investigators track down unpaid Holocaust-era insurance claims.

Forty of the state's 1,730 property and life insurance companies failed to comply with the law, which gave them until Oct. 1, 1998 to submit their records. The targeted companies were given repeated extensions but still failed to comply, said Nina Bottcher, a department spokeswoman.

The subpoenas give the companies an additional 60 days to submit records or face legal action. Most of the subpoenaed companies are small insurers with limited operations in Florida, Bottcher said.

So far, 140 Florida companies were found to have links to insurers that may have issued policies to Holocaust victims.

Sandy Lake tower OK'd

Orlando has given Brazilian developer Sergio Naya the green light to resume construction on the second tower at Sandy Lake Towers, a project under development in fits and starts since 1991. One tower at 6145 Carrier Drive near Universal Boulevard was finally completed in October. The construction has gone on forever because Naya apparently has allowed the work to be done only as he has had the money to pay for it.